Overseas

WASHINGTON - An unusual set of celestial circumstances came together over Sunday night and the wee hours of Monday for sky watchers in Europe, Africa and the Americas, where the moon was fully obscured before lighting up again with a faint red glow. In the streets of Mexico City, Los Angeles and Paris and in the Moroccan desert, moon gazers turned to the sky to observe the phenomenon, around midnight in the Americas, and shortly before dawn in Europe and Africa. The eclipse lasted about three hours: during the first hour the full moon was gradually swallowed up by the shadow of the Earth, then an hour of total eclipse where it was not invisible but instead appeared tinted in hues of red, orange and pink, followed finally by its full reemergence, bright and shining. The full Moon appeared bigger than normal because it was closer to the Earth -- about 222,000 miles (358,000 kilometers) away -- earning it the nickname "super Moon." Other monikers include a "Wolf Moon," a traditional … [Read more...] about News
Total lunar eclipse woos sky watchers

MANILA- All Filipinos in Damascus, Syria are safe following a series of airstrikes in the city, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Monday. Filipinos in the Syrian capital, however, were advised to stay indoors and avoid unnecessary movements. “Our head of mission in Damascus has informed the department that our Kababayans are safe, we have nothing to be worried about," DFA Asec. Elmer Cato said. Cato's remarks came after Israel's military said it carried out strikes on Iranian targets in Syria early Monday after it intercepted a rocket fired from Syrian territory hours before. -with a report from Agence France-Presse … [Read more...] about News
No Pinoys hurt in Syria airstrikes, says DFA

PANAMA - A massive power outage hit Panama on Sunday just days before the arrival of Pope Francis, leaving traffic lights inoperable, businesses in the dark, and gas stations unable to pump fuel for some 6 hours. The pope is set to arrive in Panama on Wednesday for the World Youth Day festival, an event expected to attract some 200,000 young Catholics from across the globe. Panamanian electric power company ETESA said service to most of the country shut down starting at 11:42 am Sunday. ETESA said it identified the location of the problem, but did not say what caused the blackout. Some 6 hours later President Juan Carlos Varela announced via Twitter "the full re-establishment" of the national power grid after meeting with senior ETESA officials. The company said some parts of neighboring Costa Rica and Nicaragua were also hit by the power outage. Varela said the blackout was unrelated to the pope's visit. PANAMA 'PREPARED' "I was on the subway, and they made us get out and walk," said … [Read more...] about News
Massive power outage strikes Panama ahead of papal visit

LONDON - British Prime Minister Theresa May unveils her Brexit "Plan B" to parliament on Monday after MPs shredded her EU divorce deal, deepening the political gridlock 10 weeks from departure day. Britain will leave the European Union on March 29 without a deal unless MPs can force a delay or get their act together in time and come up with an alternative plan that Brussels is also happy with. The world's fifth-biggest economy could lose preferential access to its largest export market overnight, affecting every sector, leading to rising costs and disruption at British ports. London and Brussels have spent the best part of two years working on a divorce agreement but MPs in parliament's lower House of Commons comprehensively rejected it on Tuesday. May's government then survived a confidence vote on Wednesday and set about talks with figures from rival parties. But the main opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn stayed away, saying a "no-deal" departure must be ruled out first -- something … [Read more...] about News
British PM turns to Brexit ‘Plan B’

MOSCOW - Hundreds of Russians protested against a feared giveaway of strategic islands to Japan on Sunday, 2 days before a key summit between the countries' leaders in Moscow. Between 300 and 500 people gathered on Suvorovskaya Square, just outside Moscow city center, for an authorized rally called by several nationalist politicians, opposed to any move to cede any of the four islands claimed by Tokyo. The Soviet army claimed 4 islands, the so-called south Kurils, in the closing days of World War II. The dispute over their sovereignty prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty, a situation President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sought to rectify last year. Abe is set to hold talks on the issue with Putin on Tuesday, following a meeting last week between foreign ministers Sergei Lavrov and Taro Kono. Moscow has said the islands' sovereignty is not a bargaining chip and the Kurils will remain Russian territory, but many people distrust official rhetoric and … [Read more...] about News
Russians protest Kuril islands handover to Japan